Broken Hearts
by Lemon Berry
Summary: She was the most important person in my life. She stood by me through my toughest times. She always put me as her first priority. But I just left her. I left her in the care of people who couldn't care less about her feelings. I left her to suffer. And now, she's going to leave me before I get a chance to tell her my true feelings.


**Hey, guys :) This is my first Pandora Hearts fanfiction even though it's like my favorite anime/manga of all time. I decided to write this because I ship this ship so hard but this ship sank and I drowned and I'm sooooo saaaaaad. Sorry if that was a spoiler. R.I.P. Echo & Noise. I shall forever remember you. But :P I hope you enjoy this one-shot :)**

**Broken Hearts**

Oz's POV:

I always knew it wasn't right, but I was too distracted to care. I assumed she would be doing fine. She was in a safe place with people who could help. I took the doctor's word and believed she'd be fine where she was. A lie. They couldn't help her. They couldn't prevent the inevitable. Regardless, I believed them at the time because it seemed like the perfect excuse to get me more time to focus on what was stressing me out: Schoolwork.

I was working my butt off since it was the last year. I was a senior in high school so I had to work hard and get into a good college. My family was rather…dysfunctional. My mother died giving birth to my little sister, Ada, and my father never seemed the same since that happened. He seemed like he had no more emotion, like he could no longer feel anything, like his soul had died along with my mother. I need to get into a good college and get a job to support this family since… I don't think my dad should keep on doing it in his current state. Because being completely honest? I feel like he'll break any day.

And so I got carried away with that. I forgot about the girl that was my childhood friend. I forgot about her even though she was there for me during all my worst times. I forgot about how she was struggling with her own life. I forgot how much I owed her and how much I loved her. I loved her so much. This girl's name was Echo.

At this point, I think you've noticed I'm using the past tense. My eyes water every time I mention her, my lungs feel like they're on fire and my heart seems to ache in bearable pain. Those things all happen because she is no longer by my side.

Echo was born with congenital heart disease. Still, she laughed and played with other kids like nothing was wrong. But I could see it. During PE, she would always seem a little wobbly after running with the other kids. She couldn't keep up with them well and the teachers would often let her sit out for certain activities. I would see her excuse herself to the bathroom so many times. At first I was confused and thought it was weird, but when I saw her one day after school, I understood. On that day, she seemed like she couldn't breathe. Her breaths were coming fast. Fast and shallow breaths. Her hand was over her heart as she bent down next to the school building.

From then on, I paid more attention to her. She was a really kind person. She didn't tell anyone about her situation. She didn't care if others thought she was weird because she had to go to the bathroom so much or because she could never keep up with their energetic playing. She wasn't looking for pity. She wanted to be a normal child. Despite all that, she didn't have many friends. Not many that cared, at least. She would follow them around, trying to befriend them but they would just shake her off because she was an orphan. As you probably guessed, I attempted to be her friend. It was hard, considering in the early years of elementary, there was a thick wall separating the guys and girls (because of germs or whatever we believed in back then). However, lucky for me – I will forever thank my teacher for this – we were paired together for a project in the beginning of the school year. A get to know each other project thing. And once she realized I wasn't "evil", we became amazing friends. We ignored the taunts of other kids saying we were "together" and just did our own thing. It was great. Our friendship had its ups and downs but it was too strong to be broken by such minor things such as arguments. Echo told me about her heart disease a year into our friendship. She told me it wasn't that it currently wasn't life threatening but just pains her every now and then. I worried about her a lot in elementary because she would never eat a lot and would often be wobbly on her feet and collapse sometimes. But as we slowly moved on to middle school, she seemed to get better. She seemed to be stronger and at one point, you could barely tell she had a disease at all.

Everything was great. She was happy and healthy and our friendship soared to new heights. Until that event came. We were freshman in high school and we were told that there was going to be a marathon fundraiser for cancer patients. And Echo, of course, having to fight a disease herself, wanted to participate. I was a little against it but let it go considering how well she seemed to be doing. I regret that so badly. If I could go back in time I would stop her at all costs, because that event began the series of misfortune.

We were about 200 meters away from the finish line. It seemed so far considering how far we already ran. My footsteps were heavy, my heart was beating madly and I could barely breathe. But despite all that I turned to the girl next to me and asked, "Echo…are you…okay?" I barely manage the whole sentence. 150 meters now. She turns to me and weakly nods but I can tell something's wrong. She was looking really pale and she was breathing faster than someone normally should, even if they've ran more than a mile. "Echo." I say again, with a more serious tone. "Stop. Stop it." I say, the color of her face is scaring me now. I make an attempt to grab onto her hand but she runs a little faster, which just alarms me even more. "I…want…to finish…this." She whispered. I felt a little stab in my heart, so I let her jog on with me following closely behind her. _I hope she's a right. She should be alright. She still seems to be running normally so nothing should be wrong. She's probably just really tired which- _My thoughts stop as we cross the finish line. I bend down with my hand on my knees, gasping for breath. I find Echo in the same position except a moment later; she falls down onto the floor. At first I think it's just because of her tiredness. "Tiring, huh." I say with a breathy chuckle. She doesn't reply, which makes me open my eyes and see that she didn't just fall because she couldn't stand anymore. She fainted. She's unconscious. And she could be dying.

The ambulance came shortly after the incident. I was informed that she would have to stay in the hospital for…a while. The exercise was too rigorous for her heart to take, which took her back to square one – the symptoms she showed in elementary school were back – or worse. So because she was in an unstable state, she had to be locked up in the hospital so make sure she doesn't overexert herself again. When the doctors said unstable state, they meant that…Echo could have heart failure any moment. But the doctors told me that if nothing happened that would dramatically increase her heart rate, then she would be fine. I was a little reluctant to leave her there but the doctors should know what was best for a patient. Scratch that. They know what was best for a patient's heath. They don't worry about petty stuff like emotion.

After the event, (being totally cliché) I blamed myself for everything. I told myself I should have stopped her. I could have prevented her from participating. Or maybe I could have just stopped her from running those final 200 meters. I told myself that I would visit her every day. No matter if it's raining, if I'm sick, if she's asleep, I will visit her. I will give her my company, which is the most I can offer without the doctors yelling at me.

And that's what I did. Every day, I was greeted with a smile. I told her about my day, as she always requests to hear. I could see the sadness in her eyes as she longs to be out of the white room and out where the air is fresh, where there's _noise, _where you can feel the sunshine, where you feel _alive. _Regardless, I could tell she was happy to have my company. "It's great to have someone to talk to other than the nurses who don't even want to have anything to do with me." She joked one day. But it truly wasn't funny. All long-term patients weren't especially welcomed; because there's nothing they can do for you anymore. They just feed you, check on you, and you would just idly sit there the rest of the time.

The days were going by fine. I was lonely at school without Echo, but I lived. Our friendship was still stable. Until one day, when I missed a day of visiting. I was so caught up with my endless school work that time slipped away right before my eyes. And just like that, visiting hours had ended. The one day miss wasn't that big of a deal. Echo acted as if nothing had happened and still greeted me with a bright smile that could outshine the sun any day. And…I don't know why, but from that day on I felt as if it was okay to miss a day now and then. I was having trouble finding time for both visiting and school work anyways so…I just decided to visit less. I decided that school work was the main priority. However as I think back on it now, I can't believe it. I can't believe I picked school work over my friend. The friend that stood by me and comforted me while I wept over my dead mother. The friend that would come to my house with delicious treats every time I was sick. The friend that never left my side no matter what others said. The friend that put me as their number one priority.

We all know that when you start slacking off, it's never good. It just gets worse and worse. It got to a point where I only visited her once a week. It never occurred to me that while I was so busy and my mind was fully occupied, that she was in an empty room by herself with nothing to busy herself with; nothing but her thoughts. When you're left alone in a room with your thoughts, that's never good. The 'What ifs' begin. What if Oz doesn't like me anymore? What if Oz got bored with me? What if I'm no longer Oz's good friend? What if Oz…doesn't love me anymore?

Eventually, that day came. The day came with the questions started overwhelming her. So on the Saturday I visited one week, she asked me.

"Oz? Why don't you visit me as much anymore?"

I felt a little spark of anger ignite within me. Did she have no idea how much work I have to go through?

"Echo." I say, "Just because you're here without any work to do, it doesn't mean I'm the same. If that was the case, I'd spend every second here. But you know I'm a senior right now and I have to work to get good grades so I can get into a good college."

"I know but…I'm just…so lonely here…"

"Yeah, well. I always visit you every week. It's hard, you know that? I could be spending this time working so I can get more sleep. But instead, I decide to spend it here with you. Be grateful." I didn't mean to sound so harsh. But the stress was really getting to me at the moment.

"…Then why don't you just stop visiting if it's such a hassle." I heard the faint beeps of the heart monitor grow a little louder as the line jumped higher than the normal steady beating she was had a second ago.

"Echo. Echo, you know it's not like that." I try to apologize but she refuses to look at me.

"It's fine. I don't want you to ruin your life because of me."

"Echo! I _want _to be here."

"But I'm pretty sure you think you should be at home." I open my mouth to speak but she cuts me off, going on, "Don't lie, Oz. I'm not blind. I still know human emotion even though I've been stuck in here for so long. I can tell you barely want to be here. Every week you come, it doesn't even seem like you're here. It's like your mind is somewhere else. So really, if you don't come, the difference won't be that huge anyways."

"Echo." I stress out her name, "It's not like that. I'm just…I'm just stressed and the work has been getting to me. I need to take care of my sister and-"

"I know," she murmured, "So take care of her…"

"It's not like that!" I say again. I try to speak again to tell her she's wrong but a nurse comes in and shoos me out immediately when she sees the high peaks on the heart monitor.

I return the next day, eager to apologize. I'm about to open the door to Echo's room, ignoring the frightening glares I get from the nurses, when I hear faint sobs. I open the door a crack so I can peek inside. I see Echo lying down on her side in a sleeping position. But her eyes are open with tears streaming down from them. I want to go in and comfort her, tell her its okay – but I can't. Because I know that I'm the reason for those tears. And just like that, I decide to stop visiting altogether. I know it pains her but I can't see her. I just can't, being the coward I am. I'll probably just upset her, increase her heart rate and make her cry. Things aren't the same anymore.

After that encounter, I just went on with my life. I was constantly pushing thoughts of Echo to the back of my head. And life went on. It was a lonely life, but I couldn't care more about that at the moment.

It was a month after my visits had stopped when I got an urgent call from the hospital. I still remember the nurse's exact words.  
>"Please come quick, Echo's heart…may be failing."<p>

I didn't wait to hear more. I grabbed my motorcycle keys and ran out. Despite not seeing her for more than a month, I couldn't deny the feelings I still had for her inside.

I constantly switched lanes, and when I found that too slow, I started driving on the line separating the two lanes. I did all that while cursing myself. Why did I stop visiting her? I should have at least gone to the hospital to check and ask about her condition. I just used her disease as an excuse to stop the visits.

I randomly stopped my motorcycle at a handicapped spot and jumped off and ran into the hospital. I didn't even bother to check-in with the lady at the front desk, I just ran knowing exactly where Echo's room was. I kicked the door open to find plenty of doctors and nurses in the room, only a few turned at my loud burst into the room while the rest were intently watching Echo. The heart monitor was beeping madly with each beat peaking higher than the one before. Echo had her eyes closed and was gasping for breath every second.

"Breathe in." The doctor instructed, "Breathe out. Good. Keep calm."

Slowly, the doctors and nurses filed out, pulling me out with them.

The doctor speaks in me in a low and hushed tone, "The girl doesn't have much longer to live. Her heart can't take it much longer. I'd say it'll stop in less than 4 minutes."

Those few words freeze me, but I quickly snap out of it as I realize time is wasting.

I open the door again and step into the room quietly. I grab a stool and sit down next to Echo.

"Hello." I whisper to her, even though she probably can't hear me. I try my best not to let tears fall as I stare at her almost motionless body.

To my surprise, the girl in front of me raises her hand to remove to oxygen mask from her mouth.

"Hello…Oz." She murmurs quietly, trying to breathe.

"No, put that back on. You need it."

She gives me a sad smile that shoots through my heart like an arrow, "Don't lie to me again, Oz. I know I'm gonna die soon. If it's going to happen soon, I'd rather spend these last moments happy."

I give her a heartbroken look, "Echo…Don't…I…" I let the apologies spill out of my mouth, "I'm so sorry. I'm…so…so sorry." I feel my eyes begin to burn as the tears threaten to fall. I've been such a jerk. I've been complaining about all my work while Echo could lose the life she has any moment. "I'm sorry…" I say again as the tears spill. I never realized how much pain she was going through. I couldn't see anything past my own problems.

Echo's smile falters a little, "Oz, stop it. I don't want to hear that from you. Just you being here right now with me is more than I can ask for. I just want to spend my last moments with my best friend."

I want to curl up on the floor and cry so badly. It kills me. "Why?" I whisper. "I was so mean to you. I _left _you…" I wipe the falling tears with the back of my hand, "Stop being so nice to me."

She gives a small chuckle, which I can tell is difficult in her current state, "I can't help it. I was always the small weak orphan child at school. I felt useless and unloved. But you changed that. I had never felt so happy. So…thank you, Oz."

"Stop…" I whisper, "Just stop. Why are you thanking me…It…It should be me, Echo. I should be thanking you. You brought so much happiness into my life. You shouldn't have to go through this. You don't deserve this, Echo. I don't want…"

Echo raises a shaky hand up to wipe my tears. "Echo…I always hated my name…it made me seem like such a minor human being…But…every time…every time you say it…It has such…a nice…ring to it…" I feel terrified as she starts to breathe faster and faster.

"Shh…" I whisper, "Don't talk…Put the mask back on…"

She shakes her head and goes on, "You showed me how wonderful life could be…You showed me life isn't just full of fake friends. You showed me fun…laughter…pain…anger…love…I always thought life was dull…but not anymore…"

"I'll show you more," I say, "Just, please…stay with me…" I plead even though I know it can't happen.

She weakly raises her hand and gently wipes away a tear of mine. I hold onto her hand, afraid that she'll slip away if I let it go; she gives me a mirthless smile as she gingerly pulls her hand down, making me loosen my grip.

"Be happy, okay?" Her voice cracks at the last word just as a tear slips away from her own eye. "Goodbye, Oz. Thank you for being my friend."

Her eyelids close, but I know she's still there because of the faint beeping from the heart monitor. "Goodbye, Echo." I quietly murmur as I bend down to kiss her on the forehead. "I'll miss you."

The corners of her mouth seem to quirk up a little right before the distant beeps stopped and a flat line was shown on the heart monitor.

I look at the peaceful body of the girl as I whispered my last words to her.

_"I love you, Echo."_

THE END! I hope you liked it. Maybe it made you cry. :') Please review if you liked it! It means a lot!

Random Note: Anyone watch the Voice? I'm upset that Mia was eliminated. T^T I wanted her to win the whole thing.


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